All that and more in today's sports page at The World of Santa Destroy.
The Lede
Dumb NFL rule exposed as Nick Saban questioned about meeting with Peyton Manning, Adam Gase
Alabama's head football coach, Nick Saban, may have gotten both Peyton Manning and Adam Gase in trouble, breaking an NFL rule that ultimately makes it look like the league has as many ridiculous rules at the NCAA.
Saban said during a press conference on Thursday that he talked to both the Denver Broncos quarterback and offensive coordinator, and reporters that knew of a certain NFL rule ran wild with it.
What was the rule? The NFl's collective-bargaining agreement doesn't allow for players or coaches to meet with each other before off-season workouts begin. Which is probably the worst rule the NFL has in the CBA.
Saban followed up with reports in his usual Saban way, groaning about how reporters just assumed that he sat down with both of them at the same time (via ESPN).
On the eve of Alabama's final spring scrimmage, he told the newspaper that he was "shocked that anybody would think someone did anything wrong" and that this is "what happens when people assume."There's a reason why Saban reacted in an annoyed way, and I can't blame him. This rule that the NFL has is incredibly stupid, even though it does make sense on why it's there.
"I was asked about their visit at my coach's clinic press conference but I never said we sat down together. Because we didn't."
NFL coaches are insane crazy, and they would love to be with their players 24/7 and drill them with information to make them better. They'd love to hold more practices and create a year-long relationship with them.
Players certainly need the rest from that. But here's the thing: It's a job. This rule gives the players mandatory vacation away from their job. And it forces two or more people not having a chance to hang out who have developed relationships at a workplace.
You can't just keep people from meeting up with each other. If Manning and John Fox want to meet at Hooters and scarf down some wings and a few cold ones while watching Peyton's alma-mater's men's basketball team cause a stir in the NCAA tournament, that should happen. But no. Under the CBA, that could be deemed inappropriate and the whole team would be under investigation.
It's an inhumane rule that's really stupid, creating stupid witch hunts like the one sparked by Saban. Like he needs even more on his plate while he's trying to please a fanbase that has fans wanting him gone after last season's Iron Bowl loss.
Top Five
- Soccer: Tottenham stays in Europa League race with 3-1 win over Fulham. 3 different players not named Emmanuel Adebayor scored for the Spurs. Harry Kane scored the go-ahead minutes into the second half that made it 2-1, and Youries Kaboul made the game-ender. Steve Sidwell made the lone goal for Fulham, and missed a penalty kick in the 77th minute.
- NHL: Detroit takes 1-0 series lead after lone goal 57 minutes into the game. It was a defensive slugfest at Boston, but the Red Wings take a big one on the road after Pavel Datsyuk's goal with 3:01 left in the contest.
- NBA: New York Knicks' Mike Woodson could be gone early next week. He'll know of his fate early next week, and he's expected to be canned. If the Knicks want Mike D'Antoni back, he should be on the market by then too.
- MLB: Former New York Mets pitcher Aaron Harang puts a no-hit bid toward Mets. Harang parted ways with Seattle with a 5.76 ERA, heading to the Mets to finish up his season. Afterwards, he was picked up by the Atlanta Braves. He held the Mets to zero hits, but the bullpen broke up the team no-hit bid. This Mets team came off of a dominating sweep against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The only other team that could pull off a feat like that is the Chicago Cubs.
- NBA: Here's James Harden not playing defense all season long. The Houston Rockets are about as defensively inept as the Los Angeles Lakers, which is why they're not getting backed by the talking heads NBA experts and public opinion. This 11-minute video of Harden never making a stop is pretty jaw-dropping.
Other Scores from Yesterday
NCAA Men's Lacrosse: Johns Hopkins 6, Nay 5
The Blue Jays finally broke a 2-game skid at Annapolis with a defensive victory against the Midshipmen. Nothing seems to go Navy's way in close battles. They had three easy opportunities for goals in the third quarter, but all three attempts bounced off the pipes. JHU also turned the ball over twice late in the game to give Navy additional opportunites to tie the game, but the Midshipmen responded with futile attempts on offensive, fumbling the ball away.
Brandon Benn had four of JHU's six goals. Navy has won just one one-goal games out of their last seven dating back to last season.
NCAA Baseball: TCU 2, Texas 0
The Longhorns still haven't scored in an early 3-game series against the Horned Frogs before the Easter holiday. TCU's Preston Morrison outdueled Dillon Peters by giving up just four hits and recorded seven strikeouts in seven innings. Peters had the same amount of SOs but double the hits in 6.2 innings of work. Texas also had just four hits on Thursday, and they'll hope to change that in the series finale.
Stanley Cup Playoffs Recap
- Canadiens 4, Lightning 1 (MON 2-0)
- Red Wings 1, Burins 0 (DET 1-0)
- Ducks 3, Stars 2 (ANA 2-0)
Montreal takes firm control of the series, adding insult to injury by scoring the first four goals in the game after defeating the team in overtime on Wednesday night. Both games were in Tampa Bay, putting extreme pressure on the Lightning. Home ice didn't help end up helping them after securing it with four straight wins to end the regular season, finishing one point higher than the Canadiens.
Elsewhere, Anaheim takes both games at home too. They cruised to a 3-0 lead after the first period and held on after Dallas scored the last three goals of the game. Ryan Getzlaf, who scored the second goal of the game, took a nasty hit as the puck nailed him in the face. He also finished with an assist on the team's third goal with just seconds left in the first period.
NL West Recap
- Rockies 12, Phillies 1
- Padres 2, Giants 1
- Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2 (F/12)
Colorado broke out the bats against Philly, dominating the game early with eight runs in the first four innings, crushing Jonathan Pettibone with nine hits and all the runs were earned. Troy Tulowitzki hit a 3-run jack in the second inning with two outs.
San Francisco continues their inept offense with just one run, a home run by Brandon Belt in the ninth inning. Starting pitcher Matt Cain now falls to 0-3 on the season, getting absolutely no run support by his team and getting tagged with a loss despite giving up just four hits, one run, and recording eight strikeouts in seven innings. But they remain tied with LA after the Dodgers lost in extras to the worst team in baseball.
Today's Slate
BARCLAY'S PREMIER LEAGUE
Sunderland at Chelsea - 11:30a NBC
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
B'hawks at Blues (STL 1-0) - 2:00 NBC
B Jackets at Penguins (PIT 1-0) - 6:00 NBCS
Wild at Avalanche (COL 1-0) - 8:30 NBCS
NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Nets at Raptors - 11:30a ESPN
Warriors at Clippers - 2:30 ABC
Hawks at Pacers - 6:00 ESPN
Grizzlies at Thunder - 8:30 ESPN
MLB - NL WEST
Phillies at Rockies - 7:10 RSRM
D'backs at Dodgers - 7:10 FS1
-Giants at Padres - 7:40 CSBA/FSSD
NCAA LAX
Maryland at Notre Dame - 11:00a ESPNU
Stony Brook at Binghamton - 12:00 AETV (ONL)
Sacred Heart at St. Joseph's - 12:00 NEC (ONL)
Bryant at Robert Morris - 12:00 NEC (ONL)
Princeton at Harvard - 12:00 ESPN3 (ONL)
Rutgers at Duke - 12:00 ESPN3 (ONL)
Villanova at St. John's 12:00 ESPN3 (ONL)
Albany at UMBC - 2:30 AETV (ONL)
CBB - BIG 12
W Virginia at Oklahoma - 12:00 FCS
PV A&M at Texas Tech - 2:00 ESPN3
Kansas at Okie St - 3:00
-TCU at Texas - 4:00
Baylor at Kansas St - 7:00 ESPNU
